Position | Quarterback
Born | Zachary, Louisiana
Date-of-Birth | August 9, 1955
College | Grambling State
NFL Career | 9 seasons Teams | Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1978-1982, Washington Redskins 1986-1989
Career Highlights
- First-round pick (17th overall) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1978 NFL Draft — the first Black quarterback ever drafted in the first round
- Led Tampa Bay to the first three playoff appearances in franchise history
- 2x Buccaneers team MVP (1980, 1981)
- Retired as Tampa Bay’s all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns, attempts, and completions
- Traded to Washington in 1986 after two seasons in the USFL
- Named Washington’s starter for the 1987 playoffs under head coach Joe Gibbs
- First Black quarterback in NFL history to start and win a Super Bowl (Super Bowl XXII, January 31, 1988)
- Named Super Bowl XXII MVP after throwing 4 touchdowns in a single quarter — a Super Bowl record
- Set Super Bowl records for passing yards (340) and longest touchdown pass (80 yards) at the time
- Ed Block Courage Award (1988)
- College Football Hall of Fame inductee (2001)
- Washington Redskins Ring of Fame
- Co-founded the Black College Football Hall of Fame (2009)
Awards
- 2x Buccaneers team MVP (1980, 1981)
- PFWA NFL All-Rookie Team (1978)
- Super Bowl XXII MVP (1988)
- Ed Block Courage Award (1988)
Doug Williams Changed the NFL Forever in One Historic Quarter
Doug Williams didn’t just win a Super Bowl for Washington. He broke a barrier the NFL had never crossed, becoming the first Black quarterback to start and win the game — and he did it in a performance so dominant it remains one of the greatest quarters in football history.
From Zachary to Grambling
Williams grew up in Zachary, Louisiana, and starred at Grambling State under legendary head coach Eddie Robinson. His college numbers were staggering: over 8,000 career passing yards and 93 touchdowns, both NCAA records at the time. He led Grambling to a win in Tokyo, Japan in 1977 and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting that same year, an extraordinary feat for a player at a historically Black college competing for national recognition few voters were paying attention to.
Despite that resume, only one NFL team bothered to scout him personally — Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs. The Buccaneers made Williams the 17th overall pick in 1978, the first Black quarterback ever selected in the first round.
Building a Career, Then Starting Over
Williams delivered immediately. He led a moribund Buccaneers franchise to its first three playoff appearances, won back-to-back team MVP honors, and left Tampa Bay in 1982 as the franchise’s all-time passing leader. Contract disputes pushed him to the upstart USFL, where he spent two productive seasons with the Oklahoma Outlaws and Arizona Outlaws before that league folded.
Washington traded for his rights in 1986, reuniting him with Gibbs, his old coordinator turned head coach. Williams spent his first season back as a backup, splitting time with Jay Schroeder through 1987 before a late-season comeback win over Minnesota convinced Gibbs to hand him the ball for the playoffs.
Before The Big Game
Williams arrived in San Diego already battling pain — he’d needed a six-hour emergency root canal just two days before the game, missing practice entirely to have it done.
One Magical Quarter in San Diego
Williams’ Super Bowl XXII start began about as badly as possible. Denver’s John Elway hit a 56-yard touchdown on the game’s opening play, and Williams hyperextended his knee shortly after, briefly leaving the game. Washington trailed 10-0 entering the second quarter.
What followed has never been matched. Williams threw four touchdown passes in a single quarter — an 80-yard strike to Ricky Sanders, a 27-yarder to Gary Clark, a 50-yarder back to Sanders, and an 8-yarder to Clint Didier — as Washington scored 35 unanswered points in 18 plays.
Williams finished the game 18 of 29 for 340 yards, both Super Bowl records at the time, in a 42-10 rout. Dougie Fresh downplayed the history he’d made in his own postgame comments.
“I didn’t come here with the Washington Redskins as a Black quarterback,” he said. “I came here as the quarterback of the Washington Redskins to play a football game to win it.”
Still, it seemed somehow poetic, that the first black Super Bowl winning QB, came from the franchise who under George Preston Marshall, had been the last team to integrate.
Head coach Joe Gibbs later called Williams’ story one of the great stories in sports.
“You have a guy who played great when he first came out of college, went to the USFL, turned around and became a backup, then comes all the way back and is MVP in the Super Bowl,” Gibbs said.
Life After Football
Williams retired after the 1989 season with 16,998 career passing yards and 100 touchdowns. He moved into coaching, eventually returning to Grambling State as head coach in 1998, succeeding Eddie Robinson himself. Williams led the Tigers to three straight conference titles and later returned for a second stint, compiling a 64-42 career coaching record across both runs.
He spent years afterward as a personnel executive, first with Tampa Bay and later with Washington, where he served as senior vice president of player personnel.
In 2009, he co-founded the Black College Football Hall of Fame alongside fellow quarterback James Harris, ensuring HBCU football stars received the recognition too many were denied during his own playing days.
Nearly four decades later, Williams’ Super Bowl XXII performance remains a landmark moment, not just for Washington football, but for the entire sport.
Three Black quarterbacks have since gone on to win Super Bowls as starters — Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts — each one following the trail Williams blazed on a January night in San Diego.
Career Statistics
NFL Statistics
| Team | Year | G | Att | Comp | Yds | %age | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay | 1978 | 10 | 194 | 73 | 1,170 | 53.4 | 7 | 8 | 23 |
| Tampa Bay | 1979 | 16 | 397 | 166 | 2,448 | 52.5 | 18 | 24 | 119 |
| Tampa Bay | 1980 | 16 | 521 | 254 | 3,396 | 69.9 | 20 | 16 | 370 |
| Tampa Bay | 1981 | 16 | 471 | 238 | 3,563 | 76.8 | 19 | 14 | 209 |
| Tampa Bay | 1982 | 9 | 307 | 164 | 2,071 | 69.6 | 9 | 11 | 158 |
| Washington | 1986 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Washington | 1987 | 5 | 143 | 81 | 1,156 | 94.0 | 11 | 5 | 9 |
| Washington | 1988 | 11 | 380 | 213 | 2,609 | 77.4 | 15 | 12 | 0 |
| Washington | 1989 | 4 | 93 | 51 | 585 | 64.1 | 1 | 3 | -4 |
| Career Total | 9 seasons | 88 | 2,507 | 1,240 | 16,998 | 69.4 | 100 | 93 | 884 |
G = Games played, Att = Pass attempts, Comp = Completions, Yds = Passing yards, %age = Passer rating, TD = Passing touchdowns, Int = Interceptions, Rush = Rushing yards. NFL stats only — excludes Williams’ 1983-1985 seasons with the USFL’s Oklahoma and Arizona Outlaws. His 1986 season with Washington reflects a single emergency relief appearance (1 attempt, incomplete) before he became the full-time starter in 1987. Stats via Pro Football Reference.
USFL Statistics
| Team | Year | Att | Comp | Yds | %age | TD | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 1984 | 528 | 261 | 3,084 | 60.5 | 15 | 21 |
| Arizona | 1985 | 509 | 271 | 3,673 | 76.4 | 21 | 17 |
| USFL Total | 2 seasons | 1,037 | 532 | 6,757 | 68.4 | 36 | 38 |
Att = Pass attempts, Comp = Completions, Yds = Passing yards, %age = Passer rating, TD = Passing touchdowns, Int = Interceptions. Williams’ Oklahoma and Arizona Outlaws teams were the same franchise, which relocated between the 1984 and 1985 seasons. He also ran for 157 yards and 4 touchdowns on 57 carries across his two USFL seasons (season-by-season rushing splits not available). Games-played data was not consistently available for both seasons and is omitted rather than estimated. Stats via USFLsite.com, cross-verified against American Football Wiki.